Led by UCLA Law professor and EPILP faculty director Ingrid Eagly, students Katrina Landeta ’19, Kelly Miller ’19, Sasha Novis ’19 and Heejin Hwang ’19 traveled to Dilley, Texas, in June to prepare mothers and children incarcerated at the South Texas Family Residential Center for their Credible Fear Interviews, the first step of the asylum process. Only those whom the government deems to have a credible fear of persecution or torture can then apply for asylum; otherwise they are deported.

“Every single woman I met had witnessed a murder or had family members or neighbors ‘disappeared,’” says Hwang. Like her fellow students on the trip, Hwang will be a second-year student at UCLA Law in the fall and is a member of Law Students for Immigrant Justice, a newly formed group dedicated to the rights of immigrants. “Some had endured years of physical and sexual abuse from partners or relatives. Death threats were the norm.”

“CARA’s team on the ground does invaluable work to empower women to effectively tell their stories so they may receive a positive credible fear finding and can remain in the United States to pursue asylum,” says Landeta. “It was a privilege to be able to contribute to their work.”

The mothers and children were from Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Haiti, Romania, Russia and Venezuela, among other countries. Most had been transferred to the Dilley center after harrowing journeys to the U.S. and several days’ detention in short-term holding cells known as hieleras (ice boxes) or perreras (dog pounds), which are notoriously dehumanizing and unsafe.

“People are generally aware of the flawed immigration system, but it is less known that hundreds of women and children are being cycled through these prisons,” says Novis. “It was heartbreaking to see so many mothers — many of them younger than we are — and their children in detention.”

The U.S. government created family detention centers for children and their mothers fleeing dangerous conditions in their home countries, but these detainees are often separated from other relatives like husbands and fathers. The Dilley facility, located 70 miles southwest of San Antonio and 90 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border, is the largest of three such centers in the U.S.

For Miller, the experience was as eye-opening as it was gratifying and rare for a law student. “It was rejuvenating to step away from the books and connect with fierce legal advocates and strong mothers who have come here seeking safety for themselves and their children,” she says.

Professor Eagly and the students, along with a CARA staff attorney, will share their experiences at a panel on September 18, hosted by EPILP and the Prison Law and Policy Program at UCLA Law.